Team talk of the town

Dusty Sloan Published: August 26, 2006 12:00 AM

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By DUSTY SLOANT-G Sports EditorA lot of the pre-game talk about Friday nights football game between Ashland and Willard centered around the new synthetic turf at Community Stadium and the 100th year of the Arrow gridiron program.After the game, all the talk what about this years team, and the 44-6 rout of the Crimson Flashes the Arrows recorded on that new playing surface.We talked from Day 1 at the end of last year that we wanted to become a better football team, said Ashland coach Scott Valentine. Thats one game, but its a good way to come out. We came out with the attitude that we were going to take care of business from Play 1, and thats what we did.Ashland wasted little time setting the tone for Fridays game, as quarterback Taylor Housewright found Brandon Harris for touchdown passes of 54 and 2 yards in the first quarter. After a 37-yard field goal by Andy Baker made it a 17-0 game, Harris came back for a long, wobbly pass from Housewright and turned it into an 82-yard score.On the night, Housewright was 9-for-13 for 177 yards passing, and Harris caught four passes for 138 yards. Ashland predominantly used a three-wide offense and rarely used a fullback Friday night.We just felt we had so many guys we want to get the ball in their hands, so we had to find some ways to do that and still be effective running the football, Valentine said. Last year, he (Harris) could have been one of our top receivers. We tried to get him going on defense, because we knew he was going to be a key on our defense, too.Ashlands first-half scoring came to an end when Dan Icenhour went up the middle with a handoff and raced 89 yards for another touchdown. Icenhour ended the game with 124 yards on just 12 carries.While the Arrow offense was racking up 324 yards in the first half, the Arrow defense was busy forcing a turnover (an interception by safety Tyler McFarlin) and allowing just 168 yards.Willard scored its lone touchdown late in the third quarter to spoil the Arrow shutout, then the youngsters got in the Ashland act in the fourth quarter.First, Robert Guliano returned a fumbled punt return 12 yards for a touchdown to make it a 37-6 game. Then, Shane Kipp took a handoff and raced 88 yards for the Arrows third 80-plus-yard score of the night.Those guys (the backups) have earned it, Valentine said. When those opportunities come, we always tell them, Youve got to take advantage of your opportunities. Defensively, Ashland was led by McFarlins interception and a pair of sacks by sophomore Cody Fast.After the game, Valentine mentioned the new turf after his team finally playing 48 minutes on it.As the year goes on, where normally the field will get muddy and lose all the grass, for us and university, its going to be a benefit, he said.Ashland will look to go 2-0 next week when it plays its first road game of the season at Bellevue.n Contact Dusty Sloan, sports editor, at 419-281-0581, ext. 244, or dsloan@times-gazette.com.Willard00606Ashland141701344First QuarterAHS Harris 54 pass from Housewright (Baker kick), 10:04.AHS Harris 2 pass from Housewright (Baker kick), 1:15.Second QuarterAHS Baker 37 field goal, 9:24.AHS Harris 82 pass from Housewright (Baker kick), 6:15.AHS D. Icenhour 89 run (Baker kick), 3:58.Third QuarterWILL E. Opatken 11 pass from Thornton (run failed), 2:06.Fourth QuarterAHS Guliano 12 fumble return (kick blocked), 10:56.AHS Kipp 88 run (Baker kick), 2:38.WILLAHSFirst downs1810Rushes-yards32-9028-170Passing122177Comp-Att-Int11-27-19-13-0Fumbles-Lost3-20-0Penalties-Yards4-2310-87INDIVIDUAL LEADERSRUSHING Willard, Thornton 14-65. Ashland, D. Icenhour 12-124.PASSING Willard, Thornton 11-27-1-122. Ashland, Housewright 9-13-0-177.RECEIVING Willard, E. Opatken 6-65. Ashland, Harris 4-138.